The Heart Between Kingdoms

by Mary Dublin

  Weaving between low-hanging branches, Brennan tried not to let his racing mind distract him into colliding with a tree. Avie... Daniel said Avie could fit in Aeron's arms.

  "But she's with Sir Logan! Surely he wouldn't agree to—"

  "The treacherous snake's done something to him. He's obedient to Aeron. Logan's going to fight to make sure she gets to Evrosea. Believe me."

  In the patches of moonlight streaking through the branches, Brennan caught sight of the healing wound on Daniel's forehead. "Great," he muttered.

  Amos' speed had brought them right on Esmae's and Logan's heels. Their silhouettes were rimmed by silver as they ran: one hulking, one small and slender.

  Daniel pulled on the reins, bringing the steed to a hard stop.

  "I can try to stun him," Brennan announced without thinking. "Though it might take a few tries to get that behemoth on the ground."

  "No need."

  Daniel took the longbow from his back. He notched an arrow on the thread. Took aim. Brennan didn't dare speak a word.

  There was a twang and rush of air. Even though he knew it was necessary, Brennan still flinched as Sir Logan gave a deafening cry. He stumbled hard in the ferns. The arrow had lodged somewhere near his calf. The knight had no sooner turned to face his attacker, when Daniel fired another shot into his shoulder. They were careful shots, meant to maim, not kill.

  It was enough. Logan roared and struggled but ended up on his knees in the dirt, overwhelmed by the pain. And Esmae, though essentially freed, looked past his bulk to lock terrified eyes with Daniel's. She looked as though she was being hunted, not saved. She staggered back a few strides before breaking into a full-on sprint. Digging his boots into Amos' sides, Daniel raced after her.

  "Esmae!"

  Flurries of snow battered his wings as Brennan fought to keep up. He almost didn't see the massive hand that shot out at him from below. Sir Logan, though agonized, still fought to obey Aeron's wishes. Brennan felt a funny twist of pity at the sight. He'd never seen such a strong influencing spell. Considering it a mercy, he summoned a stun spell in one gloved hand and sent it spiraling into the meat of Logan's thick neck. The knight slumped at once against the trunk of the nearest tree. His jaw was slack, his eyes shut peacefully.

  "Sleep soundly," Brennan murmured.

  Esmae's scream rang out ahead. He pressed on.

  The gallop of heavy hooves had ceased. By the time Brennan caught up, Daniel was no longer mounted on Amos. The horse shifted restlessly several yards ahead, and Daniel was on the ground, arms wrapped around Esmae's shoulders to keep her from running.

  "I have to!" Esmae cried, squirming to free herself and clawing fruitlessly at the thick sleeves of Daniel's jacket. "Let me go! I-I won't leave her there! I won't!"

  "Do you think that's what I want?" Daniel grunted, locking his hands around her wrists. "This solves nothing—"

  "If I had agreed to his demand to stay in Evrosea, this wouldn't have happened!" Esmae said. She gave up her struggle and collapsed against Daniel, gasping on cold air. "He wouldn't have taken her. He wouldn't have changed her."

  Clutching her upper arms, Daniel straightened Esmae to look her in the eyes. "You know that isn't true. Avie was his goal all along. We both saw for ourselves the interest he took in her before any of this happened."

  "And we did nothing." Her expression crumpled, a painful reminder of how broken she had been since returning from Evrosea that morning. "We stood by, and he took my father. Now he's taken Avie."

  Brennan brought himself level with the king and queen's eyes. "He may have taken her, but he's not keeping her. Thinking about what you could have done won't do her a bit of good."

  "Neither will handing yourself over," Daniel added to her. "He's willing to kill, Es. We know that. He's a monster, and you can't reason with him into letting her go. We're getting her back, but that doesn't mean I have to lose you because of it."

  Esmae stared up at him, her eyes reddened and wet with tears. Her jaw squared in a familiar way, and Brennan was certain she was going to try and break free again. But just as suddenly as the fight had entered her eyes, it was gone. There was only grief in her face now, and she buried it into Daniel's shoulder.

  Silence settled in the deep woods. The snow drifted past in gentle gusts, making ancient branches creak like an old man's joints. Amos pawed at the dirt, whinnying inquisitively. What little leaves had survived the frost rustled together like tiny curtains. It was tempting to believe that there was nothing amiss, if not for that strange magic that peppered each breeze.

  Brennan's teeth chattered together in the cold as he looked around, scanning for the lights of other fairies. He kept his own glow down to nearly nothing for the sake of stealth. Perhaps Aeron's men had done the same.

  "I'll go on ahead," he announced after a moment. "You two ought to lie low for now. You're easy targets, two humans standing about like that."

  Daniel's narrowed eyes were immediate and wary. "We shouldn't separate. Not now."

  "I'll be back soon," Brennan said. "Tessa and Rommen should be on their way as we speak to see what they can do about dismantling the glamour barrier."

  "Then stay and wait," Daniel insisted.

  Brennan bristled from more than the cold, realizing that Daniel didn't trust him to stay level-headed on his own. Not after his desperate attempt to go out and kill Aeron himself when given the news of Maison's murder.

  "I'm not planning a singlehanded siege on Evrosea, Your Majesty. I wouldn't put Avie at risk like that. Someone has to check if there's a militia prepared to strike on this side of the barrier so we aren't killed the moment we try to approach, and I'm the only one available at the moment."

  Esmae lifted her head from Daniel's shoulder and wiped her eyes. The grief on her face was still overwhelming as she fixed her gaze on Brennan, but determination was beginning to root its way underneath.

  "Go," she croaked. "We need to know what we're up against. But be careful, Brennan."

  He nodded once and gave Daniel no time to argue.

  Chapter

  Ten

  Esmae shivered, prickling nervously at every rustle in the branches. Brennan had been gone for several minutes, and the uncertainty of everything was gnawing away at her quicker than he was coming back with any news.

  Daniel was leaned up against the wide trunk of an oak, but his posture was just as tense as hers. He gripped his bow tightly, fingering the polished wood again and again as his gaze wandered restlessly.

  "There must be some way to reverse what's been done to Avie," Daniel muttered. He was so quiet, Esmae wasn't sure she was meant to hear it.

  She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, remembering how fragile Aveline had looked, cradled against Aeron's chest. Her baby wouldn't have even been the length of her littlest finger.

  "Did she… Did she have wings?" Esmae asked haltingly.

  "I, er, didn't see any," Daniel confessed, frowning.

  "Neither did I."

  Esmae ran her hands through her hair, gathering the long strands out of her face. Though it was a good thing Avie hadn't been entirely transformed to a fairy form, Esmae could only picture awful images of hiding in the Mirrel palace walls, wingless and small. Dodging rats and careless humans. Hunting for food. Feeling trapped. It was a fate she hoped never to endure again. She wouldn't wish it on anyone.

  Daniel studied her face for a long moment, looking for an answer she didn't have. "She can be changed back," he said, growing more certain. "You're living proof that it's possible."

  "Daniel," she sighed. "What happened to me was different than this. Don't be certain of anything."

  "Yes, but even still…"

  "We don't even know what sort of magic he used," she said, trying to be gentle while keeping herself from drowning in her own hopelessness. "He's been stealing her power. That sort of spellwork carries some of the darkest properties known to any magic user."

  "But what changed you back wasn't dark. It was me. My bl
ood."

  Her insides clenched painfully at the memory of his blood dripping onto the forest floor. "That's not the same—"

  She went silent and straightened up, listening hard for what she was sure had been the humming of wings. Daniel knew better than to ask aloud what was wrong. He adjusted himself to be at her size, following her tense gaze. The noise wasn't coming from the direction Brennan had flown.

  Finally, there came flits of moving between the barren branches. Tessa was nearly camouflaged amongst the snow flurries, but Rommen stood out in his emerald green cloak. He was the first to see Daniel and Esmae.

  "There!" he called out, flying for them while Tessa struggled to keep up.

  "You made it," Esmae sighed, though she was unable to relish the relief. Rommen looked more wide-eyed than usual, and Tessa appeared pale from more than exhaustion.

  "You should see this," Tessa said, breathing heavily from the effort of staying in the air. "Come."

  Daniel and Esmae exchanged a look and hurried after the pair of fairies. As the trees began to thin out, it was easier to look off in the distance. The castle was just barely visible between the trees. There was movement down in the field that separated the castle from the woods—dozens of people shuffling slowly through the snow.

  "What's happening?" Daniel demanded, his hand twitching to his bow.

  "They're... blank," Tessa answered. "They didn't seem to notice us at all. They just got up and started moving in this direction at all once."

  A new sort of dread pooled in Esmae's stomach as the guards, maids, advisors grew steadily closer. Like Sir Logan and the other guardsmen that had turned on them, the figures moved with a purposeful amble that was not their own.

  "This is Aeron's work?" she breathed.

  "It must be," Rommen said. "Your daughter is spreading his influence like wildfire."

  Esmae shook her head, creeping through a pair of frosted trees to get a better look. Humans were still spilling out of the castle, in addition to the many already milling across the grounds.

  "Blanket spell-casting is well known," she explained, glancing back at her husband's wide eyes. "Memory adjustment, climate disparity… But to force will on dozens of minds at once..."

  "It's unheard of," Tessa agreed.

  "Are they armed?" Daniel cut in. She understood the tremble in his voice. This was his own people, turned against him.

  "Only those who already were, it seems," Rommen said, eyeing the scattered crowd of humans with an ashen face. "Aeron isn't close enough to command direct orders of attack, but that will change if they reach Evrosea." Indeed, it was clear that their path was aimed toward the forest.

  Esmae turned to Tessa. "You have an affinity for compulsion. Can't you stop them?"

  "I don't have the power nor the skill to disrupt an entire blanket spell, and freeing a few would be no use. The caster is the source."

  "We need to get to Aeron, now," Daniel said, tearing his eyes reluctantly from field and urging Esmae to follow him back into the trees.

  She hurried by his side, heart pounding. With every step bringing them closer to Avie, she didn't dare slow down, even as she pointed out, "If the barrier is still solid, we won't be getting to anyone."

  "That, I may be able to handle," Tessa called. "Though not on my own."

  Rommen's hesitant flight was made even more uncertain as he eyed Tessa warily. Having experienced Tessa's magic for herself, Esmae knew there was nothing malevolent lurking beneath that pale, wide-eyed face, but she could imagine her uncle's aversion to working alongside a manipulator.

  Nonetheless, they didn't stop. They passed right by Amos on a straight path toward Evrosea, and Esmae worried more and more about Brennan's absence. He might have come looking for them while they were gone,

  Rommen cleared his throat. "Say we are able to make the barrier passable, what then? With Aeron using Aveline to power himself, we'll be doomed the moment he realizes—"

  Daniel raised a hand, prompting them all to stop. Esmae thought for a moment that the mention of Aveline being used was too much and he was refusing to hear about it, but noises deeper in the trees were what had caught his attention. Shouts, exclaimed incantations, and buzzing wings.

  "Brennan," Esmae whispered, rushing past Daniel before he could grab her.

  When the barrier came into view, she spotted three small, limp bodies on the cold ground. Her stomach lurched at the sight, but none of them were Brennan. He was hovering by the barrier, looking winded from the fight. The fallen fairies had to have been keeping guard. Amongst the brush, Lady Alyssa was lowering her arms. Her hands had been pointed at one of the guards, as if she had been the one to knock him out.

  Daniel and the others caught up just as Brennan swooped down on Alyssa and grabbed her by the shoulders, pushing her back against the solid barrier. She glared in outrage, but didn't fight.

  "What are you playing at?" Brennan barked.

  "In case you didn't notice, I saved you," she shot back. "We don't have time—"

  "I know you never liked Daniel or humans, or anything having to do with them, but to stoop to taking that monster's side!"

  "Open your eyes! If I hadn't convinced him that I was loyal to him, you wouldn't have someone on the inside. But now you finally see for yourself what happens when humans and the fae mix," she said heatedly. "Nothing good could have come of it."

  Brennan considered her a for a long moment, then released her. "You're wrong. He's stolen the best thing to have come of it."

  Alyssa straightened her cloak, eyes drifting past her son to look at Esmae and the others. "Then I suppose we'll have to steal her back."

  Both fairies stirred, tense, as Daniel came forward.

  "You know where she is?" he demanded of Alyssa in earnest.

  "I do, but it won't be an easy task to fetch her. Aeron's taken the King's Oak for himself. She'll be there."

  Daniel took another step forward, his eyes scanning the shielding he couldn't see. "We'll do whatever it takes. Just show us the way."

  Alyssa shook her head. "I'm able to break through the solidified glamour shielding in small pieces on my own… enough for one or two fairies at a time, you understand. Nothing nearly large enough for the likes of you." Her nose crinkled slightly as she craned her neck to take in all of him, and scoffed, "No one could manage that. I'm sorry."

  A flash of white came at the corner of Esmae's eyes, nearly iridescent among the drifting snow. Tessa's lips were a thin line as she placed her hands upon the wall.

  "It's not impossible," she announced to them all. "I can bring it down but we need to act now, and act together."

  Brennan, gaze upturned, gave a grim nod and seized his mother by the wrist. "Take me to Aveline, quickly."

  Evrosea was a hollow shell, nothing like home that Brennan had known all his life. The balconies and bridges, once teeming with movement and liveliness, were abandoned. The constant hum of wings was replaced by only the faint whistling breeze. He caught sight of fairies through windows, but there was no time to stop. With the state Evrosea was in, he couldn't blame them for hiding. The amount of destruction sent chills down his spine, knowing Daniel and Esmae's frantic escape had likely caused it. But the scorch marks streaking against the barks of the towering trees told that magic had played as much of a role.

  Only a handful of lanterns were lit, bringing the shadows to Brennan and Lady Alyssa's advantage. The night sky, usually awash in stars, was overcast, as if Evrosea itself was mourning what had befallen it.

  "Hurry, now," Alyssa whispered, ushering him along as a moving patrol guard left a blind spot in his route.

  It was tedious work, staying out of sight of every guard they came across, but Brennan tried to remain patient for Avie's sake. If they were seen, she was as good as gone forever.

  The King's Oak finally came into view. Fae lights glowed in greater concentration around the thick branches and dotted along wide balconies. Aeron knew better than to keep Avie in a chamber that could
be reached directly from the outside. She was deeper within. Blind spots would be hard to come by, if there were any to be found. But while Brennan couldn't afford to be seen, Alyssa would have no trouble getting inside.

  "There's too many," Brennan murmured. They were perched on the branch of an adjacent, skinnier tree, peeking out from the shadows. "Even if you can get Aeron away, I won't be able to step foot inside without all hell breaking loose."

  Alyssa stared at a lone guard making his rounds not far below them. "Then you'll have to blend in."

  They seized the opportunity while it was there. Alyssa approached the guard, claiming to have orders from Aeron, while Brennan swooped in from behind when he was distracted. It was simple enough to quiet his shout of surprise, but a spark of light—no doubt a distress signal—nearly flew out of the guard's hand before Brennan managed to stifle it. The struggle ended in a matter of moments, and Brennan wasted no time in fastening the guard's gold-and-scarlet cloak onto himself and throwing the hood over his head. The cloak itself was a familiar sight—the clothing of a palace guard—but it sickened Brennan to think of who laid claim to the rich colors now.

  "Do not allow anyone to look at you for too long," Alyssa whispered as they hid the unconscious guard amongst the supports of the nearest balcony. "With any luck, I can redirect the guards to clear a path to the outside once you have her."

  He shot her a sidelong look as they hurried through the lavish corridors. "You take to this a little too well, Mother," Brennan grunted under his breath.

  She shot him a look that made him feel as though he were twelve again. "Are you going to pick a fight with me now?"

  "Of course not! I'm only saying—"

  "I know what you're saying. Believe it or not, I can do more than sit around on my arse at council meetings.

  She raised her slender brows steeply at Brennan, and that was the end of it.

  They were on the edge of the royal gathering center when a round of voices filled the air.

  Together, Brennan and Alyssa folded their wings tightly and took cover behind the thick amethyst carvings that bordered the entrance to the next room. There was a soft buzz in the air like a hive of bees, making hairs rise pleasantly on the back of his neck.